Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Meet a Prospect: A.J. Cole

Another beard bites the dust...

The New York Yankees acquired pitcher A.J. Cole from the
Washington Nationals in exchange for cash considerations just hours after the
team beat up on the Minnesota Twins to the tune of a 14-1 victory on Monday
night. New York designated right-hander David Hale for assignment after
pitching the final two innings of the contest in order to make room for Cole on
the active roster. Cole was brought in as depth for the Yankees and their
struggling bullpen so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect Special Edition:
The A.J. Cole Edition.

Andrew Jordan Cole was born on January 5, 1992 in Florida
where he attended Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida. While there A.J.
played for the school’s baseball team and committed to attend the University of
Miami on a baseball scholarship. Cole was considered to be a first-round pick
in the 2010 Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft but fell in the
draft due to his commitment to Miami and reportedly due to a high signing bonus
demand. Cole fell all the way to the fourth round where the Washington
Nationals snatched him up and signed him to a $2 million signing bonus, a
record bonus for a fourth-round pick, to forgo his commitment to Miami. Cole
finished the 2010 season in the Minor Leagues with Washington and spent the
2011 season there as well before the Nationals included Cole in a trade package.

On December 23, 2011 the Nationals traded Cole, catcher
Derek Norris and pitchers Tommy Milone and Brad Peacock to the Oakland
Athletics for Gio Gonzalez and Robert Gilliam. Cole struggled as a new member
of the Athletics farm system beginning the 2012 season with a 0-7 record and a
bloated 7.82 ERA. Cole bounced back after a demotion by the Athletics, but
Oakland had seen enough after one season and ultimately traded Cole back to the
Nationals on January 16, 2013 along with Blake Treinen and a player to be named
later (Ian Krol) in a three-team trade that sent Michael Morse to the Seattle
Mariners and Jon Jaso to the Athletics. Cole spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons
with Washington before being added to the Nationals 40-man roster before the
2015 season.

Cole started the 2015 season back in the minors but was
ultimately called up to make his MLB debut on April 28, replacing an injured
Max Scherzer. Cole had a rough go of it in his MLB debut allowing nine runs in
only two innings of work leading the Nationals to only allow him to appear in
two more games that season, both out of the bullpen. Cole was back in Triple-A
to start the 2016 season as he worked exclusively as a starting pitcher until
August 18, 2016 when the Nationals called Cole up to work out of their bullpen.
Cole remained in the bullpen until Stephen Strasburg went on the disabled list
at the end of August 2016. Cole notched his first victory of his career on
September 2, 2016 against the New York Mets.

Cole was back in Triple-A to begin the 2017 season but was
called up on May 1, 2017 to fill in as a starting pitcher. Cole made one start
before being optioned back down to Syracuse on May 12. Cole was called up
multiple times throughout the 2017 season making various spot starts before
coming up to stay on September 4 as a part of September call ups and roster
expansion. Cole completed the 2017 season with a 3-5 record and a 3.81 ERA
across 52 innings which included eight starts and three appearances as a relief
pitcher.

Cole won the fifth starter job with the Nationals out of
spring training in 2018 but the Atlanta Braves rudely welcomed him to the show scoring
10 runs off him in just 3.2 innings pitched. Cole made one more start for
Washington before the Nationals moved Cole to the bullpen, where he will
ultimately end up for Aaron Boone and company going forward. Good luck, A.J.
and welcome to the family.